How Jews do Holiday Greetings

Chag Same'ach or Gut Yom Tov?

When two Jews meet each other on holidays or even in the
days prior, it is customary to wish each other a good, happy holiday. But what
to say? Here are your options:

The traditional Ashkanazi greeting is “Gut yom tov.”“Yom tov,” which literally means “good day” in
Hebrew, denotes a holiday. In Yiddish, it is normally mangled into something
that sounds more like “YON-tiff.”
Thus, the greeting can sound like “Gut
YON-tiff” or even “GutJONntiff.” (When
translating “Gut yom tov” into
English, you arrive at the strangely redundant-sounding “Good good day.”)

Sephardic Jews prefer the Biblical term for a festival, “chag.” Thus, when wishing someone a
joyous festival, they say, “Chag
same’ach.” (Note that you pronounce
it “CHAHG sah-MAY-ach.”) This
greeting has its roots in the Torah (Deuteronomy 16:14), where these two words
are used in the commandment to rejoice on the festivals.

Now, not all holidays are considered equal. The holidays of
Sukkot and Passover have intermediate days of lesser sanctity called Chol
Hamoed, when many of the work restrictions are relaxed. On those days, the
traditional Ashkenazi greeting is “Gut
mo’ed” (or “Gut MOY-ed”) and
Sepharadim say, “Moadim l’simcha,” to
which some greetee responds, “Chagim
u’zemanim l’sason.” (As before, the Sepharadic salutation has liturgical
roots; this phrase is lifted straight from the holidaykiddush.)

If you want to greet someone but are not sure what to say,
just let them greet you first and then repeat their greeting back to them.
Works every time.

Yiddish superiority
Yiddish has been raised above Hebrew to the point of idol worship of a certain group of Jews and their customs. Hebrew is the universal language of the Jews. To prefer universal is not to hate regional. This is secular superiority thinking.
Reply

AnonymousBRANCHPORTDecember 12, 2018

And how to answer well meaning people who greet us on their holidays with a wish for a merry you know what? Hmm. Maybe we should just say shalom? Peace? What is halachically permissible?
Reply

Simcha Bart for Chabad.org December 23, 2018

in response to Anonymous:

You can say thank you, and happy holidays to you, or something similar without actually mentioning the holiday by name.
Reply

Well if you are and are actually friends (and interact contrary to how different communities operate encouraging groups to work against each other rather than with each other)...then in that case you can actually say Shalom Alaichem in response. True friendship crosses barriers.

As As-Salaam-Alaikum means "And unto you peace," and Shalom Aleichem means "Peace be upon you" I think as friends you can greet each other that way!
Reply

very good to show him o here the important difference between the roots. Shalom Shalom
Reply

GershonDecember 14, 2016

Sepharadic Custom
That's a really interesting notion, which makes sense, that moadim lesimcha was originally for the moed itself. However, it is quite widespread these days to use it just on chol hamoed.
Reply

rivksApril 26, 2016

your advice on greeting when in doubt
I'm quite surprised about your advice to just wait to see what the other says, since Pirke Awot teaches us to always be the first one to greet??
Reply

Menachem PosnerDecember 7, 2015

To Eric Miller
Thanks for writing. I am not aware of such a distinction, but it may indeed be that your community has a unique custom, which is to be honored and cherished.
Reply

Eric Millernow in Norwich, VTDecember 6, 2015

I was raised (--in Hamburg, Germany in the 1960s: our Schul was Yekkish Orthodox, with many refugees/survivors from the east, plus I had a Sephardic grandmother--) to reserve "Gut Yontiff" for just the High Holidays; and "Hag Same'ach" for just Pessach, Sukkes, and Shavoos. Were we making a wrong distinction?
Reply

AnonymousAustinSeptember 15, 2015

Hagim
The festivals were times when Jews were commanded to bring an offering to special places, ie the Temple or certain cities. There were three Hag's or Hagim.They became times when Jews made a PILGRIMAGE to the temple in Jerusalem to make offerings. The muslims HAJ has its roots in Judaism. They got the idea of the Haj from the Jewish Hag. They heard of Jews making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to bring offerings and made a holiday with the same name and similar purpose.
Reply

ElishebaCape Cod, MA September 30, 2018

in response to Anonymous:

Given the fact that Jews and Muslims have the same father, it is no wonder that many customs are shared!
Reply